The Portrait of Political Discrimination Against Black People in America in 1960S As Reflected in the Novel Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
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Prologue : Journal of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies © Vol.5 No.1, February 2019 ISSN -p: 2460-4641 http://prologue.sastra.uniba-bpn.ac.id/index.php/jurnal_prologue/index THE PORTRAIT OF POLITICAL DISCRIMINATION AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE IN AMERICA IN 1960S AS REFLECTED IN THE NOVEL GO SET A WATCHMAN BY HARPER LEE ABSTRACT Anggita Nindya Sari1, Siti Hafsah2, Wahyuni3 There are objectives that become the purpose of this research: 1) to describe the factors cause the political discrimination against black people in America in 1960s as reflected in the novel Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee and 2) to find the strategy of political discrimination against black people in America in 1960s portray in the novel Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee. The theory used in this research is the Sociology of Literature and hegemony theory by Gramsci about dominance and direction/leadership and discrimination as supporting theory. The methodology employed is qualitative research which the researcher aims to study the the issue of political discrimination and the factors cause the political discrimination. In the process of collecting data, the researcher collected from primary and secondary data. The primary data is the story and relation issue in the novel which about the factors causing political discrimination and the strategy of political discrimination against black people in America in 1960s. The researcher concludes that the issue reflected in the novel, there are some factors causing the political discrimination against black people, they are dominance and direction/leadership which is the phase of hegemony. The strategy of political discrimination against black people are discrimination in accepting the equality as the opportunity in part of government agency, discrimination in sharing the responsibility of citizenship and discrimination of the rights to vote. Those discrimination has the purpose to limiting black people become the participant of board council. Keywords: The Portrait, Political Discrimination, Black People in 1960s POTRET DISKRIMINASI POLITIK TERHADAP ORANG KULIT HITAM DI AMERIKA PADA TAHUN 1960AN SEPERTI TERCERMIN DALAM NOVEL GO SET A WATCHMAN KARYA HARPER LEE ABSTRAK 1 Student, Faculty of letter, University of Balikpapan 2 1st Advisor, Lecturer in Faculty of Letter, University of Balikpapan 3 2nd Advisor, Lecturer in Faculty of Letter, University of Balikpapan 44 Prologue : Journal of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies © Vol.5 No.1, February 2019 ISSN -p: 2460-4641 http://prologue.sastra.uniba-bpn.ac.id/index.php/jurnal_prologue/index Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah: 1) untuk menggambarkan faktor-faktor penyebab diskriminasi politik terhadap orang kulit hitam di Amerika pada tahun 1960-an sebagaimana tercermin dalam novel Go Set A Watchman oleh Harper Lee dan 2) untuk mengetahui strategi dalam diskriminasi politik terhadap orang kulit hitam di Amerika pada tahun 1960an yang tergambar pada novel Go Set A Watchman oleh Harper Lee. Teori yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah Sosiologi Sastra dan teori hegemoni oleh Gramsci tentang dominasi dan arah/kepemimpinan, selain itu diskriminasi sebagai teori pendukung. Metodologi yang digunakan adalah penelitian kualitatif yang bertujuan untuk mengetahui masalah diskriminasi politik dan faktor-faktor penyebab diskriminasi politik. Dalam proses pengumpulan data, peneliti mengumpulkan data primer dan sekunder. Data primer adalah cerita dan isu relasi dalam novel tentang faktor- faktor penyebab diskriminasi politik dan bagaimana strategi dalam diskriminasi politik terhadap orang kulit hitam di Amerika pada tahun 1960-an. Peneliti menyimpulkan masalah yang tercermin dalam novel, bahwa ada beberapa faktor yang menyebabkan diskriminasi politik terhadap orang kulit hitam, yaitu dominasi dan arah/kepemimpinan yang merupakan maksud hegemoni sebagai strategi politik. Selain itu, mengetahui strategi diskriminasi politik terhadap orang kulit hitam yaitu diskriminasi dalam penerimaan kesempatan yang sama pada lembaga pemerintah, diskriminasi dalam pembagian tanggung jawab sebagai warganegara dan diskriminasi dalam hak untuk memilih. Diskriminasi tersebut bertujuan untuk membatasi orang kulit hitam menjadi anggota dewan pemerintahan. Kata Kunci: Potret, Diskriminasi Politik, Orang kulit hitam pada tahun 1960an INTRODUCTION Human is one of exquisite God‘s creation. Even though human is difference to each other but those difference is their exquisite. However those difference have been created human in a group. The difference is sometimes based on their ethnicity, religion, physically or mentally disabled and social status. The group can be divided based on the characteristics of the equation and the difference due to the existence of classes in the group by itself. That difference can lead people to influence each other and even people dominate others in order to obtain the same goal. Discrimination in this field is an capable act of causing prolonged conflict because discrimination is an injustice implanted by an individual or group to another group. According to Allport, discrimination involves denying individuals or groups of people equality of treatment which they may wish (1954, p.51). People do discrimination in order to reach their goals without considering other people goals and courtesy. Furthermore, discrimination against an individual may be based on overall assumptions about members of a disadvantaged racial group 45 Prologue : Journal of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies © Vol.5 No.1, February 2019 ISSN -p: 2460-4641 http://prologue.sastra.uniba-bpn.ac.id/index.php/jurnal_prologue/index that are assumed by applying to that individual. However discrimination may also occur as the result of institutional procedures rather than individual behaviors. African Americans or black people have been a major part of the United State population. They accounted for nearly one-fifth of the 3.9 million Americans counted in the 1790 Census (Population Bulletin, 2007, p.3-4). Nearly all of these early blacks traced their roots to African slaves brought to the country involuntarily during the 1700s (p.4). The slave trade was illegal by 1808, ending the flow from Africa (p.4). It means, when black people enters America, they were forced to become a slave because most of them does not has capability, uneducated and trying to find their new place. The difference treatment in every aspect among black and white people has the longest path. According to Digital History, the statistics were grim for black people in 1960 (2016, p.1). Their average life-span was seven years less than white people (Digital History, 2016, p.1). Their children had only half the chance of completing high school, half the chance of completing college, and half the chance of entering a profession when they grew up. Despite a string of court victories during the late 1950s, many black people were still second-class citizens (Digital History, 2016, p.1). Black people suffered humiliation, insult, embarrassment, and discrimination. Many neighborhoods, businesses, and unions almost totally excluded black people. Black people enters America when the time of development of cotton field own by white people increase then from that moment black people receive the inequality behavior from white people as the superior class. LITERATURE REVIEW This research considers the literary works reflects the situation when the novel Go Set A Watchman was created in 1960s, although those novel printed and releasein 2015. Literature is direct reflection of various facets of social structure, family relationships, class conflict and possibly divorce trends and population composition (Swingewood, 1972, p.13). The function of sociology of literature is to discover how the literary works have values to the society and literary works considers the representation of real society life with norms and values. Those reflection includes the values, norms and meanings in social world (Swingewood, 1972, p.15). In relation to this novel is how the life of African American or black society in 1960s where unfair and inequality treatment is often accepted by black people and other social issues. 1. Hegemony Gramsci In its historic sense, hegemony refers to the political dominance of one country or state over another or group of others. Furthermore, it implies a high level of influence, authority or control over others. It is method for gaining and maintaining power. Gramsci explained that 46 Prologue : Journal of Language, Literature and Cultural Studies © Vol.5 No.1, February 2019 ISSN -p: 2460-4641 http://prologue.sastra.uniba-bpn.ac.id/index.php/jurnal_prologue/index hegemony can be elaborated on the basis of class supremacy, the supremacy of social group manifest itself in two ways, as domination and as intellectual and moral leadership (in Patria, 1976, p.57). It means that hegemony related to attitude and strategy in coordinating and gaining power. Kurniawan then said that hegemony by gramsci, therefore, is all about convincing others that something is in their best interests, as opposed to using force or intimidation to achieve the same outcome (2010, p.253). The influence disseminated is not violently but rather instilling in the hegemony with peaceful acceptance. The domination refers to people or institution capacity for violence, which can be use against those who refuse to participate in relations of production. Hegemony is not a dominating relationship using power, but rather a relationship of agreement using political and ideological